When Calls the Heart Production Blog - Episode 6: These Games

From the Production Journal of Michael Landon Jr. and Brian Bird, Executive Producers and Creators of "When Calls the Heart"

Day 2, Episode 6: It’s 7 a.m. and I just arrived on set and we are completely socked in by fog. For this episode we’re supposed to be shooting our "Miners’ Games," which are sort of a "Highland Games" for the coal miners and the whole community. But our unflappable Vancouver crew is used to unpredictable winter climate shifts like this. We’re not punting the scenes for sunny skies tomorrow, we’re intrepidly moving forward today as planned, and I’m so glad we are. The fog adds so much production value we could never create with special or visual effects. I have to say after a few months in our world of "Coal Valley," I’m starting to feel like this is my home, too. I do miss my family, but I feel so blessed to be working on this show. And I can’t wait for the audience to see it. I don’t believe there will be anything like "When Calls the Heart" anywhere else on TV. Yes, this is a family show, but I think we are creating something very radical. In between shots yesterday, I was asking one of our crew if they could think of another show on TV right now a whole family could watch together, and he just scratched his head. I couldn’t come up with an example either. Think about that. There used to be a time when all the networks had "family hour" in prime time every night. Now it seems Hallmark Channel is the only one brave enough to put a show on like this. I pray all the hard work, ours and theirs, will be rewarded with a large audience. This is a real opportunity for people across America to make a loud statement that they are tired of all the vampires, zombies, meth dealers and dead bodies on TV. That they are ready for themes like redemption, courage, sacrifice, forgiveness and hope to rule the airwaves once again.